Friday, January 9, 2009

Finally. It's taken me too long. Feels forever ago that Lucy tagged me for the Six Words Meme, where you condense a description of yourself to just six words. Actually, I can distill it down to one: Complex...so rather than wrestle with the other five, I've spun the meme to highlight A Few of my Favorite Things. Six, to be exact. Perhaps some of them are yours, too.

Sift powdered sugar, hazelnuts and flour into a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour in egg whites, beating with the whisk or a large spoon until they are well mixed. The batter will be wetter than you'd expect, moderately thick and slightly elastic. Pour in melted butter and stir until smoothly blended without any butter separating from the batter. Stir in vanilla extract.

Fill well-greased, small and shallow metal molds (financier, barquette, madeleine or mini muffin) almost to the rim with batter. Support the filled molds on a heavy baking sheet before placing on center oven rack to bake for 7 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees F and continue baking another 7 minutes. Turn off heat to let them set in cooling oven for a final 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and turn cakes out of molds as soon as they are cool enough to handle. Place them on a rack to complete cooling. Serve plain or decorated with powdered sugar or a drizzle of melted chocolate. Makes 16-18 petits fours, depending on size of molds. Store in a tightly sealed tin or plastic container. They keep beautifully, if you can keep your hands off them. --

* Ground hazelnuts can often be found in health food stores and metropolitan supermarkets. You can also grind your own in a food processor or blender, but take care not to grind too long or the result could be nut butter rather than a fine, yet gritty meal. Grinding in small batches allows for better control.

This post is for Ruth of Ruth's Kitchen Experiments, creator and host of Bookmarked Recipes, the weekly event that highlights recipes we've noted to try from periodicals, cookbooks, TV shows and blogs.

If you'd like to be tagged for this meme, please leave me a comment. I'll be glad to amend this post with a link to you.

39 comments:

A beautiful international collection of favorite things finished by a subtly sweet treat. Wells' Financiers look like a terrific way to use up leftover egg whites. Susan, I hope you have a wonderful 2009!

Am going over to Lucy's to check out the meme rules but whatever they are, your post is beautiful.

If food blogging hadn't revealed to me earlier that financiers were the name of a biscuit, I'd have wondered if Scott was having competition, at the sight of the headline. In any case, flesh-and-blood financiers, French or otherwise, of hazelnut or not, are hardly the flavour of the season!!!

Thanks, Laurie! So true. I hate to waste one part of an egg or the other.

Snooky Doodle - Thanks so much.

Wendy - Thanks very much! Uncouth, you? Nay. I'd give anything to hike the wild country of Scotland. Outposts are my ideal. These favorites of mine are just one side of me.

Harini - Thank you! That lace is an antique wedding gown which I wound up not wearing b/c I couldn't find a suitable lining for it.

Hey, Sra! Thanks. No, not a good time to be dealing with cash these days; hazelnut financiers are probably richer than the average banker!

Thanks, Ruhama! Financiers are very much like madeleines, but they have a distinctive denser texture with a chewy crust and do not "hump" when baked. They are not supposed to rise much at all. They are technically little cakes. Both cakes are baked in tiny traditional tins unique to their origins, although there's room to adapt.

Hi, TBC! Good to see you. Happy New Year! Thanks so much.

Thanks, Courtney. They are divine. The fluted molds work perfectly.

Ricki - Thanks! The cup and sauce will never derail your diet. : D

Hi, Holler! Thanks. I have trouble, too, sometimes.

Thanks, Simona. I am a sucker for bas relief. What better pleasure than the wonders of Italian sculpture? Hope you enjoy the financiers; they are very easy and exquisite.

Hello, Aparna. Thank you very much. They are called financiers because they are as rich as bankers. Barquette molds are used for miniature cakes and tarts of all kinds.

Lucy - Thanks always, dear girl. I like (need) the freedom of interpretation where there is wiggle room.

Thank you, Maris!

Welcome, Anu! Thanks for your kind words. Good to see you.

Hi, Toni! Thanks so much. Good to see you. Visit when you can - linger as long as you like. : )

Welcome, Tea! Thank you very much. I'm glad for your visit.

Hi, Maggie! Thank you!

Thanks, Rosa! Very sweet of you. : }

FJK - Welcome! Thanks so much for the kudos. Kalyn tweeted this? I am more than flattered. Thanks for passing that on and visiting here. : )

Jyothsna - Thanks. I prefer financiers with tea rather than coffee - a nice, strong cuppa black without sugar or cream.

Welcome, Duo Dishes! Thank you very much. Good to see you.

Lori Lynn - Thank you. Hardest part was zeroing in on a select few. I love too many things. ; }

Dear Nanditha - Thank you. So good to see you again.

Hi, Giz. Thanks. I like French fries from Burger King, too, but no one believes me. :D

Thank you, Sandeepa. I love a lot, truth be told. There are many things that make me happy, and they are not all traditionally beautiful and elegant. So good to see you.

I cook and bake in that cute little galley kitchen up there. It's not as tidy as it used to be, and the walls are a deep tagine red now, but it's a cozy, homey space where you are always welcome to drop in. You can reach me at thewellseasonedcook AT yahoo DOT com. I'd be delighted to hear from you.